Language...it's "curioso"

Everyone knows that every native Spanish speaker on this planet can roll their r's. I cannot. Still working on that. But did you know how hard it is for native Spanish speakers to say their y's without making them sound like j's? I guess you can say we all have our own difficulties learning how to speak a second language. So far, I think the most rewarding part of teaching English is recognizing my students' desire to learn. Even the professors who I work with are working so hard to improve their English. I love the mentality the professors in my school have. I feel like sometimes people think they are too "old" to learn a language or never studied it in school so therefore they should not even try. But these professors amaze me everyday. They try so hard and it is so rewarding to see them get excited when they are able to speak and understand English because they know whatever knowledge they gain from me, they can continue to teach to their students after I am gone.

Then there are the students. I am still working on trying to get them to speak because it is hard for them to speak English in front of a classroom of students who might have traveled to an English speaking country. I need them to shake the mentality that they might not be "as good" at English as their classmates so they can just speak, but it is a challenge. Then there are the students who I tutor. Many of them are good at English because they grew up learning the language. Here in Spain, it is now mandatory for a student to begin learning a second language by age 5 at the latest. So many of the students I tutor have been learning English since they were born. But even with their English level being decently high for their age, they are still kids and still try to pull the same punches that American children do. For example, today during tutoring, my two students thought it was hilarious to try to trick me into saying "Me gusta la pasta penne." "I like penne pasta." Well I knew very well that "penne" is pronounced the same way as the Spanish word "pene" which is of course the Spanish word for a certain male reproductive organ. Let's just say they did not get away with it.

But overall, I think language has been fascinating me more now than ever before. Today I was working with one of the professors from my high school who is learning English. She was telling me about her trip to the United States a few years ago. She told me she "pass" through Pennsylvania and I corrected her by saying "passed." She then wanted to pronounce the word "passed" correctly because it is often hard for native Spanish speakers to say the -ed ending of past tense verbs. Once she finally got that down, she was still frustrated that she couldn't say "passed" like I do. After repeating the word a number of times, she finally asked why she could not say the "a" like me. And then it hit me. I am from outside of Philly. The way I say my "a's" in words like "passed," "basketball," "fast," etc. is different from most native English speakers. I just thought that was so funny and so interesting that just like the Spaniards down south here in Andalucia have an accent, I have an accent as well.

Also, since England is so close, many of the English teachers here are from England or have studied in England. Many of my students have studied in England or Ireland as well because the United States is difficult and expensive to get to. So the English here that is used by the schools is British English. Imagine my surprise walking into my classrooms and hearing my students asking each other to borrow "a rubber" (an eraser) when I am thinking they are talking about a contraceptive. Like what?! You're 14...wait a little longer please! Then having them tell me that they "have got" two brothers or they "have got" a dog makes me want to scream because that is taught to them as the correct way of saying "to have." Well how can this be when every paper I have ever written would have had a billion points deducted if I used grammar like that? I've got...pshhh. Then there are words like "flat" vs. apartment and "trainers" vs. sneakers...you get the point. It is very interesting to hear these differences but hey England...stop messing with my American English!

Today, one of my students also asked me why Americans say "I'm gonna go" instead of "I am going to go." Or "I wanna eat a snack" instead of "I want to eat a snack." And I thought the Andalucians eating their letters was bad. This experience really has been teaching me how difficult English can be and how I can better help these students because I, too, am learning language. Sometimes learning and understanding Spanish is easy, while other days, I cannot even understand "Hola! Que tal?" Let me just say learning and teaching English is hard. Learning and teaching Spanish is hard. But when you're going back and forth between English and Spanish all day, by the time the day ends, you're speaking a horrible mess of Spanglish and you might as well just head to bed because you cannot make any sense after midnight anyways.

Bottom line is every day is a new adventure...from talking about the economic crisis in all parts of the world and stocks and Wall Street and the difference between traders and brokers (my father would be proud) and greed and corruption and all life's issues in English (like I did on Monday) to teaching the basic a,b,c's and 1,2,3's of English and reading childhood storybooks...it really has made me realize that language is very "curioso."